


Turn reality

by Tossukka



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Era, Gloves, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-18
Updated: 2013-02-18
Packaged: 2017-11-29 17:38:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/689643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tossukka/pseuds/Tossukka
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This was not the day for Merlin or Arthur to die. Today for them was not about fate; it was about destiny.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Turn reality

**Author's Note:**

  * For [alby_mangroves](https://archiveofourown.org/users/alby_mangroves/gifts).



> Alby’s amazing art can be found [here](http://alby-mangroves.livejournal.com/21868.html)! Go, go, and leave her big piles of praise, because she deserves all of it! (Just look at the art, unf.)
> 
> I on the other hand ended up rewriting the whole story, because version number one just wasn’t working for me. (So I actually got inspired by the art _twice_!) I hope this is the better version. Thanks to Alby for pre-betaing and, as always, to Seth for quick and effective beta!

[](http://s1218.beta.photobucket.com/user/AlbyMangroves/media/My%20Artwork/Turn%20Reality%20RVBB/TurnRealityCover2_zps1bee04ae.jpg.html)   


\---

Merlin tended to treat the laws of nature and magic as mere suggestions at even the best of times, but when it came to protecting Arthur... Well, there wasn’t much Merlin was not willing to do to protect Arthur. He would rebuild the basic structure of the world, or twist and turn reality until it bent to his will if that was what it took. Seeing Arthur die and knowing there had been something, anything, Merlin could have done to save him would be unacceptable. 

Stopping time was one of the easiest spells he used, and he’d known how to do it ever since he first arrived in Camelot, but now, in the middle of a battle, he had lost the touch with his magic.

Merlin had a moment of terrible panic as he realised someone, maybe even several people, were fighting against his spell, and slowly, ever so slowly, time was starting to slip back into its natural course. 

“No,” Merlin gasped, because a soldier, one of Morgana’s, was closing in on Arthur and Merlin could see what was going to happen now: the soldier was going to split open Arthur’s armour and kill the King.

Merlin had done nothing to time now, he couldn’t, but somehow it still seemed to move slower. Every movement was like from a dream. Like it wasn’t really happening, and it couldn’t be, because it would be entirely too terrible to even consider. He might’ve been the greatest sorcerer Albion had ever known and the Court Sorcerer of Camelot, but even he couldn’t break through the blockage of several warlocks when he had no time to think and he was fighting an unknown spell. Knowing Morgana the warlocks were also somewhere outside the battlefield, chanting in unison to block Merlin’s magic.

But Merlin wasn’t the same boy who hadn’t known anything about channelling power or about creating things from nothing that he had been when he first arrived in Camelot. During the years after the ban on magic had been lifted, he had taken his time to learn everything there was to know about magic. He had wandered Albion, learning from the Druids, from the ancient books, from the dragon, and now he had it in him to solve this problem.

Merlin reached inside his mind and heard the whispered spells connecting to his magic. One, two, three links connected him to the other sorcerers. It had to be Morgana’s idea to cut off Merlin’s powers and remove one of Camelot’s greatest advantages. She had never really given up on the war even when Arthur had made peace with the Druid folk and made magic legal in the land. For her, it was only about the throne of Camelot anymore, not about bringing magic back or having peace. She’d never forgiven Merlin for having magic and not sharing the secret with her, and Merlin understood her point of view. He wouldn’t have forgiven himself either if he was in Morgana’s place, but Morgana had made her choices, and Merlin couldn’t change the past, no matter how much he would’ve wanted to.

The links were too strong to break without Merlin’s full concentration, which had been expected. Now that Merlin was Court Sorcerer to King Arthur, all the attacks towards Camelot tended to take that into account. Everyone knew that in Merlin’s first real battle after Arthur had learned about his magic, Merlin had destroyed an entire army with one spell. The enemies also knew that, and not only were they using powerful magic as a weapon, but they also did their best to destroy Emrys, because without him Camelot would fall.

 _Arthur_ would fall without Merlin, and without Arthur there was no Camelot. Once upon a time Arthur had intended to marry Gwen, but those days were long past now, and Camelot still had no queen. Merlin was Arthur’s closest advisor and the person who spent the most time with the King. They shared all their meals, all the meetings of the round table, and Merlin often sat in Arthur’s rooms reading or quietly muttering the words of a new spell when Arthur was writing a speech or dealing with state business. The servants were already gossiping about the relationship between them, although there was no truth to the rumours.

No matter how many times Merlin had asked Arthur if he was ever going to marry, Arthur always said no, that he didn’t need or want a queen. He wouldn’t marry for anything but love, and Arthur hadn’t had a sweetheart since Gwen. Camelot had no heir. Merlin was sure Arthur had made arrangements, told the knights to pass the royal seal to someone in case he fell, but Merlin had no idea who that someone could be.

In return, Arthur had for whatever reason also asked about Merlin’s plans for settling down. He had been acting suspicious, almost jealous, but Merlin had just laughed at him. It was no secret that many young ladies and even some men of court admired Merlin, but there wasn’t anyone who could catch Merlin’s attraction and love in the same way Arthur had. He didn’t want to put anyone in a position where they had to share Merlin. No one else but Arthur could have him completely, because there was always a part of Merlin that belonged to Arthur alone. Marrying was not high on his list of priorities.

At the moment, his only priority was to save Arthur and for them both to survive the battle.

Instead of trying to free his full power, Merlin took a knife from the hand of a fallen warrior. It took a considerable amount of his remaining powers to whisper a targeting spell. Arthur knew how to hit the centre of a target from a distance with a knife, all the knights probably did, but Merlin needed a little bit of magical aid for that.

The soldier was about to stab Arthur in the back. He probably wasn’t even a proper knight; there was no honour in attacking a person who couldn’t see you. Arthur would never have done it, nor would’ve the other knights of Camelot.

Luckily Merlin was no knight either. He wasn’t bound by the code of honour, but played by the rules of the world. When he threw the knife, it hit the attacking soldier in the back and the sword the man had been holding fell to the ground.

Merlin couldn’t hear the noises the soldier made, but he knew by now what a dying man sounded like. Arthur had noticed the soldier now, had seemingly also realised what had just happened. Arthur looked around for a moment, before finding Merlin in the chaos of the battle. Merlin merely met his gaze evenly, lifted his chin to show that he didn’t regret his actions, and went back to fighting. 

For now, Merlin had to fight with a sword. He would need some time without any interruptions to collect his powers again. To cut the links that held his magic back. At least he wasn’t wearing his official wizard’s robes out on the battlefield. Arthur had tried to make him wear them, but when Merlin pointed out that he tended to trip on the damn piece of clothing even when _walking the corridors_ and that the robe looked like a _dress_ , Arthur had grinned widely and given him permission to wear chainmail. Despite Merlin no longer being a manservant, Arthur did still spend every moment of the day giving him commands, and Merlin, as painful as it was to admit, damn it, yielded to most of them quite easily. Not the ones where Arthur was clearly _completely out of his head_ , like when he had suggested a _purple_ robe as the official clothing for the Court Sorcerer, or when he had threatened to knight Merlin for his services to Camelot, or when Arthur had tried to assign him his own manservant. Those times Merlin had put his foot down, but mostly... Arthur was the leader, and Merlin had once said he would be happy to be Arthur’s servant till the day he died, and even with his elevated position in court, he still served Arthur.

This was not the day for either of them to die though. Not today.

Not after all they had done to try and bring peace to the land.

To be honest, Arthur hadn’t been happy when he had first learned about Merlin’s magic. He had been bloody furious, actually. He had gone through periods of time where he threatened to throw Merlin into the dungeons to rot, threatened to throw Merlin out of Camelot and preferably out of all Albion, and other times, just threw things at Merlin. He hadn’t wanted to see him, talk about it, or address the subject at all. 

Merlin had been sure it was all over then, because Arthur would never forgive him for the lies. Their destiny was in ruins and no matter how hard Kilgharrah had insisted that one could never fully hate the person who made them whole, Merlin had been packing his things and thinking about leaving Camelot without a word. Maybe he’d return to Ealdor, maybe go somewhere else, but he couldn’t stay like this.

Only Gaius had known about his plan, but somehow Arthur had found out too. The morning Merlin was going to leave, Arthur had appeared on Gaius’s doorstep and asked to see him. Arthur had then taken him to a tower and told Merlin that it was his now, because the new Court Sorcerer should have a room in the castle to work with magical things after the ban on sorcery had been lifted. Merlin hadn’t really caught on at first.

“I’m talking about you, you idiot! You’re going to make yourself useful by working for the greater good. Camelot is under attack from magical forces at least twice a month, and it’ll be your duty to protect us. Meanwhile you can... I don’t know. Help Gaius. Pick herbs. Practice spells. Whatever you sorcerers do when you’re not busy putting innocent people under enchantments.”

Merlin had not been impressed. Arthur had rubbed the bridge of his nose and looked almost nervous.

“Look, Merlin. I don’t really think you’re going to hurt me. Hurt the kingdom. Not after all you’ve done for... us. I might’ve overreacted a bit. I want to see what you can do with it, alright?”

And Merlin had shown him. He had spent the whole day and night showing Arthur what he could do with magic. Arthur had ignored all his kingly duties and just sat with Merlin in the tower, because he wanted to _learn_ what it was to be a sorcerer. He wanted to know the good things magic could bring for the land and people.

After the lesson, there had been a discussion about Merlin lying to Arthur for so long. While kings and queens and knights had all pledged their alliance to Camelot on their knees in front of all the court, for everyone to see, Merlin’s vows had happened in a tower where the only light was the fireplace, during the darkest hour of the night, and only the two of them in the room. Merlin hadn’t intended it. Arthur had sat down with his hands covering his face after raging for what felt like hours about Merlin keeping his magic a secret from him, and him not seeing what had been in front of him for years. Merlin had kneeled in front of his chair, taken Arthur’s hand in his, and sworn that there would be no more lies. That Merlin would use his magic to serve only Arthur. That he would stay by Arthur’s side, protecting him as long as Arthur wanted and needed him there.

Merlin’s magic wasn’t for the court. It wasn’t even for Camelot or destiny or anything else Merlin had once thought he would use it for; it was only for Arthur, as was the rest of Merlin.

Arthur had looked at him then, and had seemed to realise the importance of the moment too. Sliding down from the chair on his knees in front of him, Arthur had thrown his arms around Merlin and hugged him. Merlin had already been shocked by the hug, but then Arthur had thanked him for everything he had already done for the kingdom.

Even after so many years as Court Sorcerer, Merlin still wondered what would’ve happened if he had been brave enough to kiss Arthur that night. Arthur had pulled back and looked him in the eye and they had looked at one another as if they were only now truly seeing clearly through each other’s walls. The first rays of morning sun had hit the window then, interrupting the moment, and they had moved on with their duties and hadn’t spoken about it since.

But the oath held. When Merlin slashed someone with a sword on the battlefield, the oath held, as well as it did when he had to fight against another sorcerer.

Merlin could feel his magic just under his skin, just beyond his reach, and it was starting to annoy him to have his most powerful weapon locked away inside him. There were other men who were better with swords and battles, but Merlin had the power to end it right now, before more of Camelot’s men could die.

“Gwaine!” Merlin yelled when he spotted a familiar knight. “Come and help me.”

Gwaine fought his way to Merlin.

“What is it? Why are you not just magicking them away?”

“Something is blocking my magic. I need a moment to break through the connection.”

“I can give you that,” Gwaine grinned and punched another warrior out of his way.

“Thanks,” Merlin said, and reached again inside his mind. The three links were clearly still there, and Merlin thought about just cutting them off, breaking it, but if they had succeeded at the blockage already, they could form it again. If not in this battle, then sometime later, and that was not a risk Merlin was willing to take. He didn’t want to kill the sorcerers, not when they had done nothing more harmful than this, but Merlin could scare them. Warn them against trying it again.

Merlin shut away the battle raging around him and concentrated only on what was inside his mind. He followed the link and sensed that there were three people muttering the incantation at the other end. There was a druidic symbol and a piece of cloth on the table. Merlin knew his magic well enough to know that the clothing had once belonged to him, because a sorcerer always needed something to connect them with the victim. Well, the warlocks all being in the same place would make this much easier.

He cut down one link and felt the others shake for a moment. All of them had probably sensed that the connection was weaker now. Merlin sent an impulse of power through one of the remaining links. He felt the person holding it let it go and imagined it must’ve burned their mind. They would be out of the game for at least today, because with a badly shaken mind one couldn’t control their magic well enough to do such complicated spells. The other two also couldn’t do anything more because two wasn’t enough to control Merlin’s magic effectively. But Merlin wanted to make sure that he wouldn’t be blocked again today.

There was only one connection left now and through it he could sense the room where the warlocks were. The link was wavering, but held long enough for Merlin to knock down the candle and set the cloth on the table on fire. The last link broke when there was nothing connecting them to Merlin anymore, and Merlin smiled. His mind was back on the battlefield where Lancelot had joined Gwaine to help keep the enemies away from Merlin, and he had all of his magic back. It was like he hadn’t been in his own body without his magic, like he hadn’t been himself at all. There was no time for being awed by the feeling, but the sense of magic was prickling inside him and on the surface of his skin. Now all Merlin wanted was to take back the time he had lost fighting against the other warlocks.

Merlin saw Arthur fighting a giant of a man not too far away. He knew Arthur could deal with it by himself, but just for the sake of testing his magic he threw the man backwards to the ground. He hit his head against a rock and was knocked unconscious. Merlin raised his eyebrows at Arthur, grinned, and turned back to the battle before Arthur could roll his eyes at him. Merlin felt the elements turn in the air at his will, and he was full of boyish, gleeful joy, making things twist with only a word.

Now that he had his magic back, the fighting was easy and thrilling. This was something Merlin knew how to do. This was something he was good at. He had never before really understood why the knights didn’t back away from a battle even though there was always the possibility of dying or being captured, but now that he could use his magic openly, he knew why. Now he was one of the men, not just a servant, but a part of the group that fought together and helped each other when needed. 

It was not that anyone wanted to die, but there were some things they were ready to give their life for, and that had always been clear to Merlin. But the thrill of a battle, facing an enemy and only having a fraction of time to decide what to do, trying to guess what he was up against next, it made him feel alive both in his body and his soul. It was heat of the moment, an “us against them” sort of thing, and Merlin loved the feeling after a won battle. The excitement. The energy. The joy of a victory or peace. Of course it would mix in with the sadness for men that had been lost, but they had all died in the line of duty. They had lost their lives honourably, and they had done it all for their king.

There were far worse fates than death in battle.

Still, this was not the day for Merlin or Arthur to die. Today for them was not about fate; it was about destiny.

They had known beforehand that Camelot would be attacked today, and the knights were fully prepared to defend the city. Somehow, even now that George was working as Arthur’s manservant, Merlin always helped Arthur put on his armour before big battles. It was a tradition, and not least because Merlin wanted to make sure Arthur’s armour was as strong as it could be. Like always, he’d whispered small protective spells that made the metal more resistant to attacks and the chains hold better together. Arthur had remained quiet while Merlin did it.

The two of them were not used to expressing feelings for each other with words. Arthur had been looking at him, and Merlin had said something like “look, Arthur,” or possibly “you need to be careful out there.” He couldn’t fully remember anymore, because the words hadn’t been important. Arthur was probably just going to squeeze Merlin’s shoulder reassuringly, and Merlin was only going to check again the fasting of Arthur’s breastplate to occupy his fingers, but they ended up standing only a breath away from each other with Arthur’s hand on Merlin’s upper arm and Merlin’s on Arthur’s neck.

“Oh,” Merlin had said. Arthur’s mouth had fallen slightly open as if he was going to say something, but instead he had leaned forward just a bit and touched his mouth to Merlin’s lips. It had been only a brief brush but it made Merlin let out another quiet “oh” before pulling Arthur into a kiss again. It had felt almost like a goodbye, in case anything happened to either of them. It was bittersweet and slightly desperate and left Merlin breathless.

“Merlin,” Arthur had said when they had parted. He was pressing their foreheads together and breathing hard. “If I happen to die today, this isn’t a bad last memory to take with me.”

“Don’t you dare,” Merlin had said, and held Arthur’s head in his hands. “Don’t you dare die on me after that. We still have some new memories to make before you’re allowed to die.”

Arthur had smiled and stolen another kiss. Merlin had tried not to muss up Arthur’s hair or leave any teeth marks that would serve as a proof for what they had done, but it was hard to resist. Luckily, or unluckily, there had been a knock on the door then, telling them that it was time.

Arthur had never looked more regal to Merlin than that afternoon when he stood up in front of his knights preparing to defend the city from the attack.

Merlin could’ve ended the battle instead of fighting against enemies one by one. He could defeat the attacking army with one spell, but there didn’t seem to be much point anymore. He had killed as many enemies as any of the knights had, and Camelot was going to win the battle. As soon as their commander gave the order the enemy would retreat, and Merlin wanted to give them a chance for that. Arthur had never sought victory with cruelty, and Merlin followed his lead now, although Merlin hadn’t always been that merciful in the past. He was still prepared to kill to protect and even for revenge, but wouldn’t do it for enjoyment.

There was the sound of a horn somewhere further away. Merlin was fighting against a warrior, but he was mostly defending himself and not actively attacking. The warrior recognised the sound of the retreat signal as well as everyone else on the field and lowered his weapons. Merlin let the poor man leave without trying to stop him, and turned towards Gwaine who had been fighting close to him.

“We won,” he said, grinning and a little stunned to find himself still alive. He should’ve grown used to it, being the most powerful sorcerer in the land and seeing Arthur lead his men to victory time after time, but every time he went into battle he knew it might be his last day, and every time the fighting ended he was surprised that they had survived.

“We did,” Gwaine said. He was helping a fellow knight of Camelot up. Lancelot was carrying another one towards Gaius’s tent with Percival.

“Thank God,” Merlin said, searching the battlefield. “Can you see Arthur anywhere?”

Gwaine pointed to where Arthur was helping another soldier. Arthur looked bloody and more than a bit bruised, but he was standing up on his own two feet without any seemingly serious injuries and talking to the knight. Merlin stared at him and felt tears prickling behind his eyelids. They had done it. They had survived to see another day.

“What the hell are you waiting for?” Gwaine asked. “Go to the princess.”

“Hmmh?” Merlin said. He wanted to go to Arthur, but Gwaine had no idea of the reason, though if given half a hint, he could probably guess. Gwaine just rolled his eyes.

“Come on. Don’t give me that. Just go.”

Merlin went. He tried not to run, but Arthur saw him coming and sent away the knight he had been talking with. When Merlin reached him Arthur was alone again.

“You’re alive,” Merlin said. “The battle is over, and you’re still alive.”

“Of course I am, idiot,” Arthur answered. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

Merlin wasn’t listening. He was too busy running his hands all over Arthur’s armour and face and making sure that there was nothing seriously wrong with him other than some cuts and bruises. He had been prepared for the worst to happen; had been mentally preparing to never see Arthur alive again, and here he was now in Merlin’s arms, warm and moving and staring at Merlin like he had gone mad.

“You’re bleeding,” Arthur pointed out. “You need to get that seen to.”

“No, I don’t,” Merlin said, wiping some sweaty hair away from Arthur’s forehead. “I’m fine.”

Something else was quickly replacing the excitement of the battle in his veins. He was still high on his feelings, and he was sure he didn’t mean to hug his king like that in front of the knights and everyone else helping with the wounded on the battlefield. Arthur smelled like sweat and blood and excitement, and it wasn’t the most pleasant scent in the world, but it reminded him of the joy of being alive and getting another chance and made Merlin _want_ in ways he couldn’t remember wanting ever before. His nose pressed against the skin behind Arthur’s ear, and his breath probably felt uncomfortably warm on Arthur’s neck, but after a moment of hesitation Arthur wrapped his arms around Merlin too.

Being so close to Arthur when the battle was still fresh in Merlin’s mind made his head spin. It felt like he had too much energy and power on the surface, ready to be used for any kind of activity, although he rather hoped the activity would include a lot of bare skin. Carelessly Merlin let his lips touch Arthur’s neck; it was not quite a kiss but it made Arthur gasp softly all the same.

“Merlin,” Arthur whispered against his temple, and his lips lingered close to his ear. “You need to see Gaius. But if you want to... Come to my chambers afterwards?”

“You need to be checked too,” Merlin said. “Come with me.”

Gaius was working in a tent nearby. It was out of harm’s way regarding the battlefield, but it wasn’t too uncomfortable a distance for the wounded to walk, or in some cases, to be carried. In the amount of time it took them to walk there, Arthur didn’t once remove his hand from Merlin’s shoulder.

In the medical tent Merlin helped to remove Arthur’s armour, and then removed his own as well. Arthur wiped away most of the sweat and dirt with a towel before Gaius checked him for any injuries, and seeing Arthur shirtless under the examination made the blood in Merlin’s veins boil. He hardly noticed Gaius binding his own arm, because he was too busy staring at Arthur who—while he didn’t gaze back at him the entire time—was definitely turning his head to glance at Merlin a few times more than was absolutely necessary or natural. They both dressed in clean tunics and left the armours for the servants. It was a pity to be dressed again, but Merlin was sure the situation would change as soon as they were alone.

Finally Gaius told them to be careful before he waved them away with a sigh, and Merlin followed Arthur through the city and the castle into Arthur’s chambers. He hardly paid any attention to any of the servants who were carrying hot water and bandages, the knights who were cheery and noisy despite some of them limping or having bruises all over, or the citizens who whispered the latest news among themselves. People tried to come and talk to Arthur a few times, but Arthur just waved them off and told them to go talk to Sir Lancelot or Sir Leon if it was something that needed to be dealt with today. Merlin was addressed once or twice, but he barely noticed the interruptions. 

As soon as the door to Arthur’s bedroom was closed behind him, Merlin found himself pinned against it. He grabbed the front of Arthur’s shirt and just looked at him. 

“Now would be a damn good time to use your,” Arthur growled and waved his fingers in the air, “if you don’t want this.”

Merlin’s heart was beating rapidly, and he had only time to open his mouth to answer without actually knowing what he was going to say before Arthur was claiming his mouth and pulling his hips against his body. All thoughts in Merlin’s head vanished—they hadn’t been important anyway, because this was Arthur and Arthur was kissing him like both their lives depended on it. Merlin pushed both his hands into Arthur’s hair and pulled him closer, at the same time licking Arthur’s mouth with his tongue. Arthur groaned and opened up to Merlin.

It was a good thing that Merlin had practiced making spells work without any words, because he wasn’t going to let go of Arthur, not even for the task of undressing. He thought of a word and then it was Arthur’s naked body pressing against his equally naked one. Their clothes were in a pile on the floor further away.

“Nice one,” Arthur said, unattaching his lips from Merlin’s. “You missed my gloves.”

“Shut up,” Merlin said, and pulled Arthur back into a kiss. Said gloves felt unyielding when Arthur’s fingers pressed against Merlin’s skin, and he randomly thought about how the same hands had less than an hour ago been holding a sword. The hands were caressing Merlin’s skin and holding him close as Arthur kissed Merlin’s mouth, jaw, ear, neck. 

Merlin gasped when Arthur began to suck on the side of his neck. It would leave a mark, that much was certain, but he couldn’t care less when at the same time Arthur pressed their hips together, grasping his buttocks and tipping one leather-covered finger between them for just a moment.

“Oh fuck,” Merlin groaned. “Here. Let me.”

Merlin took them both in hand and whispered a spell near Arthur’s ear. It was a spell he had learned years ago just in case, and it made a slippery substance, a type of oil perfect for this use, appear in Merlin’s palm. It was easy then to grab a hold of both their cocks and slick them with the oil. Arthur groaned and pressed his forehead against Merlin’s shoulder. He was still mouthing at Merlin’s neck.

Merlin removed his hand from their cocks and enjoyed the small movements of Arthur’s hips against his. Neither of them would have enough energy or patience for a proper fuck tonight, but Merlin liked to fantasise about the time when they would. Arthur’s eyes were closed and he was reaching for Merlin’s lips again, and just for a moment Merlin slipped his oil-covered fingers between his own cheeks and searched out the small hole there. It made him breathe a little harder and close his eyes to better concentrate on the feeling. He didn’t push in, but let his fingers tease around it, moaning the pleasure into Arthur’s mouth. When Merlin opened his eyes he realised that Arthur was looking at the hand and his gaze had glazed over.

“Bed,” Arthur gasped out, and he probably would’ve lifted Merlin up and thrown him onto said bed if this had been any other day. But today Arthur’s hands were shaking just slightly because of the still present feeling of battle and danger and the excitement of finally being there. Arthur also seemed just as hesitant to remove his hands from Merlin’s body as Merlin was to stop touching him.

Merlin followed Arthur’s lead, stroking their cocks slowly with his hand and pulling Arthur into another kiss with the other one. Merlin wasn’t sure how Arthur even succeeded at finding the bed, but the next moment Arthur was sitting on the edge and backing up against the headboard, and Merlin followed him. Arthur ended up lying back on the bed with Merlin sitting on his thighs. They had barely broken off the kiss at all.

“This works much better,” Merlin commented, letting his oiled hand move around on Arthur’s neck and chest. He pinched Arthur’s nipple between his fingers and felt Arthur slap his arse.

“Cheeky! I don’t know why I keep you around,” Arthur said, pulling Merlin up until their cocks were sliding against each other.

“You don’t? Well then. Let me remind you of that, _sire_ ,” Merlin said, and took them in hand again. Arthur’s cock felt hot and hard against his palm, and Merlin added an extra squeeze between every few strokes to make the feeling of them pressing together even more intense. It was already clear it wouldn’t take either of them long to come, because the exhaustion was slowly catching up and they had both been on the edge since the end of the battle. Hell, Merlin had been on the edge from the moment he had kissed Arthur before the fight had even begun, and that had been hours ago. 

Arthur rested his hands on Merlin’s neck and lower back and moved his hips to meet Merlin’s strokes. The leather felt sticky and hard, but somehow the gloves were so much a part of Arthur that Merlin didn’t mind the feeling at all. In fact he’d probably be fantasising about those gloves quite a few times in the days to come. If Merlin hadn’t been so close already he would’ve asked Arthur to take his time in touching every piece of his skin with the leather, to drive Merlin mad with want before giving him release. To pull Merlin’s buttocks apart with the gloved hands and push his tongue, his cock, inside with torturously slow thrusts.

Merlin saw the situation vividly in his mind and bit out a groan against Arthur’s shoulder. He quickened the pace of his hand. His senses were overwhelmed, and it was hard to take in everything that was happening. The sound of skin on skin, hand sliding on cocks, Arthur’s breathing so close to his ear; the sight of Arthur’s blond hair tousled on the pillow, his eyes closed and lips slightly apart; the taste and smell of sweat and sex in the air and on skin. The pleasure was building up and the details were getting hazy. Merlin had to close his eyes to concentrate on the only clear thought that still was in his mind.

Arthur.

Arthur panted, but he was clearly trying to control the sounds he let out before he came with a soft, tired groan and a whispered “Merlin.” Merlin suspected he had been quite noisy both during the build up and his release, but after he snuggled next to Arthur tired and satisfied he couldn’t have cared less. Arthur petted his hair and looked at him with eyes full of affection and happiness.

“Next time I will take my time with you,” Arthur said, letting his hand rest against Merlin’s backside for a moment, making Merlin’s thoughts return to his earlier fantasies. “I think I’ll need to bring my own oil, because I’m going to make you forget all the magic you’ve ever learned.”

“Quite ambitious,” Merlin mumbled.

“I aim high.”

Arthur was holding him close and still moving his hands on Merlin’s back. Only then did Merlin realise that Arthur was still wearing his gloves.

“Take those off,” he muttered. “I want to feel your hands.”

Not that Merlin minded the gloves. The gloves were very nice, but if he was going to stay the night he wanted to feel as much of Arthur’s skin against his own as possible, and the gloves were in the way now that the insistent heat had passed.

Although, Arthur hadn’t in any way hinted that he wanted to wake up with Merlin. It should’ve been a worrying thought, but there was no way Merlin was going to get up from this bed or out of this room unless Arthur carried him to the corridor. His eyelids were heavy, and he was still conscious enough to appreciate the fact that Arthur took the gloves off and threw them somewhere on the floor. Merlin leaned in to kiss him. Now, after the burn of arousal and battle in his blood had calmed down, Merlin could simply enjoy the soft, moist touch of Arthur’s lips, the hand on his shoulder, and the way their legs were tangled together.

“Stay?” Arthur asked, uncertainly. Merlin didn’t answer, but kissed his chest and pulled the blankets on top of them with a spell. Arthur snorted at that.

“Lazy bastard.”

“Don’t complain. You like it anyway,” Merlin muttered before falling asleep in Arthur’s arms.

\---

Arthur’s breathing was deep and steady when Merlin woke up the next morning. Merlin felt warm and comfortable and alive and there was nothing he wanted to do less than leave the bed, but it was necessary. He had to go back to his own chambers to change clothes and come back down to breakfast with Arthur pretending that nothing had happened. That nothing had changed.

For a moment Merlin looked at Arthur. He had seen Arthur sleeping more times than he could count, but never had he actually watched him this close and listened to Arthur’s breathing and sleepy muttering and felt his chest rise and fall under Merlin’s hands.

“I love you,” Merlin whispered almost inaudibly against Arthur’s skin. He couldn’t say it aloud, but he knew it to be true, had known it to be true for years now, and needed to get it out in case this had only been for one night and they would go straight back to pretending not to care about each other. The feelings between them had always been implied with touches and looks and awkward choices of words, but sometimes they ended up saying things like, “you’re a loyal friend;” “you’re a great king;” “I trust you;” “thank you,” and the sentiment was there. It was behind the insults and nods and knowing that they could always trust the other to protect them by any means necessary.

“Why are you awake?” Arthur muttered and pulled Merlin close again. “Go back to sleep.”

“Arthur, George will be here soon and see me if you don’t let me go. The whole castle will know about this in hours,” Merlin said and wriggled further away from him. Arthur opened his eyes slightly and his gaze fixed on Merlin’s neck for some reason. Merlin touched the spot and felt a painful twinge. Well, wasn’t this just perfect? Everyone was going to know what Merlin had been doing in any case. Arthur shifted his eyes back to Merlin’s and once again pulled him into his arms.

“Don’t care. They all think we started this years ago,” Arthur muttered and closed his eyes again. “Don’t care if they know it’s true now.”

Merlin thought about that for a moment.

“But are you sure that...” Merlin began, and Arthur silenced him with a kiss.

“Yes. Sleep. It will be fine.”

Merlin did.

\---

When Merlin opened his eyes the next time, it was to George moving around the room and collecting the pieces of clothing that were in a pile on the floor after the previous night. It should’ve been mortifying, but Arthur just yawned, kissed Merlin’s cheek, and showed no signs of distress about the situation whatsoever. George didn’t look at all surprised to find Merlin in bed with Arthur.

“Good morning, Your highness. My lord,” George said, nodding to both of them. “You’ll be happy to know that there have been no more losses of Camelot citizens during the night.”

“That’s great,” Merlin said before he remembered once again that he was naked in bed with the King and it was probably the most embarrassing moment of his life. Arthur glanced at his flushed cheeks, amused.

“George, when you bring up breakfast, could you bring clean clothes for the Court Sorcerer as well? We’d also like a bath,” Arthur said. George bowed and went on his way with the dirty clothes. Merlin crossed his arms.

“You’re enjoying this entirely too much,” Merlin said, looking at Arthur accusingly.

“Perhaps,” Arthur answered. “What’s not to enjoy?”

Then Arthur’s face fell.

“If you didn’t want everyone to know...”

There were some reasons why Merlin really couldn’t stay mad at Arthur for long even when he clearly had no discretion at all. Arthur was waiting for an answer, and Merlin knew that whatever he said next would decide the future of their relationship. If he said he wanted this to be only for that night, Arthur would never speak of it again.

“And you call me an idiot,” Merlin muttered. “It’s fine. I’m just not used to people walking in on me when I’m naked in bed with someone.”

In months to come the relationship of King Arthur and his Court Sorcerer became one of those things that everyone in the castle knew but that was never talked of. They always behaved properly in front of other people, and what happened behind closed doors was a private matter. And if someone happened to notice that the sheets in Merlin’s bed hardly ever needed changing anymore, as if no one was sleeping there, and that the sheets in Arthur’s rooms needed changing almost daily now, they never commented on it.

-fin-

[](http://s1218.beta.photobucket.com/user/AlbyMangroves/media/My%20Artwork/Turn%20Reality%20RVBB/TurnRealityV2_800_zpsfdb5a4a1.jpg.html)


End file.
